


The Gang Go To High School

by uglygayemo



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: All Canon-Typical themes, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Slow Build, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-10-17 06:36:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17555240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uglygayemo/pseuds/uglygayemo
Summary: High School: the time every teenager either loathes or loves. The new year of freshmen are arriving with braces, acne, and hormones galore. Four particular students are ready to cause chaos.





	The Gang Go To High School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mac gets some bad news that will change his world forever and the gang attend their first day of High School.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo, I love IASIP and High School AU's so I decided to make one because why the fuck not? Just letting y'all know, it's taken me like a month to write this first chapter so do be aware I may take a while to upload but I WILL upload. I'm planning on writing this fic until the gang graduate, so this might take awhile. Also, a quick piece of info, I am very British so do forgive me if I get anything wrong about American High School in the 90's. I've done some research and asked a couple of my American internet pals but there will no doubt be some mistakes here and there. I think that's all for now, I hope you enjoy! - R

[ 02:45 AM, Monday 7th September 1990 ]

Charlie was awoken early in the morning to a sharp tap on the glass of his bedroom window. He sat up in his bed, his pillow falling onto his lap due to it previously being across his face. He rubbed at his eyes and squinted through the darkness over at his window, unsure if he had been imagining the sound. He was proven wrong when there was another tap, making Charlie get up from his bed and walk over to investigate. He pulled the curtains away, pressing his forehead against the cool glass as he glanced down onto the street. 

The dim light from the streetlamp cascaded onto the culprit, a yellow glow being seen on the man's face as he stared up at Charlie. He was speaking, his mouth moving and arms gesturing vaguely. "What?" Charlie furrowed his brows, unable to hear his words through the glass. It took a minute for Charlie to realise he should probably open his window. He tugged at the lock a good few times, cursing his mom for being overprotective and using a child-safety lock. Finally, he was able to pry the window open, lifting the glass up and poking his head out into the cold air. 

Immediately, the man on the street spoke. "Charlie, goddamnit! Get your ass down here!" 

He looked funny, angrily bouncing up and down and cursing at Charlie with his fingers. "What are you doin' here, Mac? It's, like, late." He yawned near the end of his sentence, only proving his point. 

The others anger seemed to disappear and a look of sadness appeared in its place. "It's my dad, dude. He got arrested, mom locked me out by mistake. She seems pretty... weird."

Charlie rose his brows. "Oh. Okay, I'll let you in." He stepped back and pulled the window shut, not bothering to lock it before walking away. He trudged out into the hall and down the stairs, staring at the multiple locks on the front door in confusion. After a few minutes of attempting to unlock them, Charlie decided just to open another window. This one was easier to open and he stuck his head out, looking over to his friend. "Dude, I can't get the door open, think you can make it?" He gestured to the gap between the steps and the window. 

"Uh, yeah! Of course, dude. Stand back." Mac climbed onto the windowsill, grunting as he shuffled through the small window with minimal ease. Once he landed on the living room floor, Charlie shut the window behind him. "Whew, good thing I'm not that bulked out yet from working out so much. That was tough." 

Charlie scoffed at the notion that Mac was at all muscular, he was skinny. Mac mechanically toed his worn boots off and removed his outer layers of clothing, those being his jacket and jeans, dropping them on top of his shoes. He'd done this so many times that it was routine. Mrs Kelly hated the smell of cigarettes and Mac's clothes always reeked of them so they came up with a plan: Charlie kept a spare set of Mac's clothes at his house, ones that Charlie's mom had washed with the same detergent she used on her sons clothes, and Mac would wear them whenever he was over. 

"You hungry?" Charlie asked though he was already making his way over to the kitchen. 

"Starving, bro. You got anything good?" Mac sat down onto at the dining table, tucking his feet behind the legs of the chair. 

"Uhh," Charlie opened the fridge and looked inside. "Umm, there's one of my moms slimming yoghurts?"

"What flavour?"

Charlie squinted as he tried to read the label. Unable to make out the words, he settled for looking at the picture. "Fuzzy apple."

Mac furrowed his brows and stood up, walking behind Charlie and looking at the label. "Dude that's a peach." He grabbed the yoghurt and took a spoon out from the sink, moving back to the table with Charlie trailing behind him. He tore the lid off and threw it onto the table, immediately digging the spoon into the cream and scooping it in his mouth. "Yuck, that's bad." 

Charlie sat down on the chair in front of Mac and picked up the discarded lid. He licked the leftover yoghurt and shrugged his shoulders. "I like it." 

Mac shoved both the spoon and the yoghurt across the table to Charlie, getting up yet again and moving across the kitchen to look in the cupboards. "You eat it, I'll have... this." He pulled out some potato chips. 

"Dude, no! Those are mine for tomorrow!" Charlie whined, his mouth full of peach flavoured yoghurt. 

"I'll buy you some more, promise." Mac tore open the bag and stuffed his face with salty chips.

The pair spent a few minutes eating their respective snacks before leaving the trash on the table and moving upstairs to Charlie's bedroom. Once inside, Charlie shut the door and he and Mac got into bed. Charlie was small, smaller than most kids his age, so he and Mac easily fit in the same single bed. Mac pulled the covers over the both of them, sighing as he lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling. 

Charlie knew that sigh, it meant that Mac was about to talk. For once, Charlie was smart enough to keep quiet. 

Mac's voice was soft when he spoke, there was no mistaking the way it trembled. "They took my dad away..." He felt his eyes sting with unshed tears and he sniffled, wiping them with his hands that were balled into fists. 

"Why?" Charlie turned on his side, facing his best friend. He always thought Mac's dad was cool. He was an asshole, but he was a cool asshole. This wasn't the first time they had a conversation like this, it seemed like Mac's dad went to prison every few months.

"He got caught selling meth. Mom didn't even try stop the cops when they came into our house, messing shit up and looking for more drugs. It woke me up!" Mac frowned. "...I didn't get to say goodbye. I ran outside 'cause I thought they had him in the cop car- I was, like,  _so_ gonna break him out! When I asked where he was, one of the cops told me they already got him in a cell. By the time I tried to go back inside, mom had locked the door." 

They fell into a silence as Charlie let the words sink in, knowing it was one of those moments when he should properly listen. "That sucks, bro. I'm sorry." 

Mac simply nodded. "Yeah." He whispered his reply and rolled onto his side, his back facing Charlie. From the way he was trembling and the sounds of quiet sniffles, Charlie guessed he was crying. Mac hated crying, would always deny doing it even when tears were visibly falling from his eyes. Charlie did the only thing he thought to do, shuffling closer and giving him a hug. They fell asleep like that. 

* * *

[ 06:02 AM ]

At 6 AM, Bonnie Kelly walked into her son's bedroom to wake him up for his first day at High School. She walked over to the bed, shocked at the sight of another boy in her son's arms. She easily identified him as Mac, her son's best friend with the terrible parents, and a sad smile appeared on her face. Mac spent a lot of his time at the Kelly house, he would often come over asking to stay the night or come for dinner as his parents regularly forgot to feed him or 'accidentally' locked him out. It was no surprise to Bonnie to see the younger man, though she was concerned about how he got in- she had locked the doors and Charlie didn't know how to unlock them. 

With a small shake to his shoulder, Charlie was woken up. He instinctively shuffled closer to Mac as he was giving off the most warmth, the action caused said boy to stir. Bonnie leaned over the pair, checking their faces to see if their eyes were open yet. "Come on, boys, it's time to wake up."

Mac was the first to wake fully, blinking his eyes a few times as he remembered where he was. At the feel of Charlie snuggling against his back, he wriggled out of the bed and swatted his arm. "Dude, get off me!"

Charlie barely reacted to the swat, rolling onto his back and yawning lazily. Bonnie took a step back from the bed, allowing the boys to each get up. "Mac, are you okay?" 

Mac looked over at his friend's mom, shrugging. "Yeah, thanks for letting me stay the night."

Charlie got out of bed and wandered over to his drawers, getting out a worn green t-shirt and picking his regular baggy ripped jeans up from the floor. He started changing into them, unashamed of doing so in front of the others. Bonnie walked over to help her son put on his shirt, knowing he sometimes pokes his head out the armhole by mistake. "Of course... how're your parents?" She knew that they were the reason why he was over so much. She wondered what had happened this time.

Mac scratched the back of his head, kneeling down and getting a box out from under Charlie's bed. Inside the box were the spare clothes he kept there. "Uh, dad got arrested last night. Mom's... mom. She just forgot I was outside and she locked the door by accident."

Bonnie nodded along, though she knew that it was more than likely not an accident. Charlie was dressed now so Bonnie headed to the door. "I'll pack you both a snack in a bag, but-" She turned to Charlie when she spoke again. "You're eating school meals, remember that, I'm just making you a snack for break." 

Charlie nodded and waved his hand. "'Kay." He would forget that by dinner time and complain that his mom forgot to pack him some lunch. Once Mrs Kelly left, Mac started getting dressed. Charlie turned to his best friend and grinned. "Bro, we're High Schoolers." He tilted his head to the side. "Well,  _I_ am. You're not supposed to be a freshman until next year." Charlie laughed, they had put Mac in his year by mistake in Elementary School and since then he's been in his classes.  

Mac grinned back at him, a wave of nervous excitement washing over him. He pulled on his grey shirt that somehow smelled  _soft._  "Shut up, this is gonna be so cool! Going to High School together!" He put his jeans on one leg at a time, silently thanking God for whatever fabric softner Mrs Kelly used.

Charlie walked over to his bedroom door, waiting until Mac was finished getting ready before they started walking downstairs. "Duh, there's gonna be girls!"

Mac walked over to the front door and sat on the floor, pulling on his boots and tieing the laces. He rolled his eyes at Charlie's words. "Just don't ditch me whenever you decide you have a crush on a random chick. Or tell anyone my real age. Pretend I'm fourteen like you."

"'Course." Charlie stuffed his feet into his dirty sneakers, pulling the velcro straps shut tight. "Promise you won't ditch me either?" He walked over and grabbed the snack bags his mom has prepared for them both. Mrs Kelly took the opportunity to give Charlie a hug and wish him good luck. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"I promise. It'll be just us, like always." Mac stood once his shoes were tied. 

Charlie handed Mac his snack bag, grabbing another carrier bag that he kept his pen and notebook in. "You got your bag?" 

Mac shook his head, moving out of the way when Mrs Kelly opened the door for them both. "Nah, it's in my room. Mom probably has the door locked still." Mac's schoolbag was a brown satchel that he found in his mothers closet. He drew his name on it, along with a skull and crossbones in order to make it look more 'manly'. People still called him out for having a women's handbag, though.

"Oh." Charlie let his Mom kiss him on the cheek before they left. As soon as the door was shut, he wiped his cheek with his sleeve. "You wanna go check?"

Mac pretended to debate it. He checked the time, they had an hour til first period. "Nah, don't wanna be late on our first day." 

Charlie laughed. "You never care about being late." 

"Today I do! I gotta make a good impression on everyone! This is High School, Charlie!" Mac scoffed.

Charlie poked his shoulder. "You mean make a good impression on the girls?"

"No, girls suck."

They laughed together and continued walking.

* * *

[ 7:05 AM ]

On the other side of town, two more teens were getting ready for their first day at the same High School. Dennis strolled out of his house with an apple in his hand and a navy blue Jansport backpack slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a plain grey polo shirt and blue jeans, along with a pair of black and white Converse sneakers on his feet. His hair was styled but with minimal product as he wanted everyone to think he was naturally beautiful. He looked like the stereotypical popular rich kid. He wore a smirk on his face, sure that this would be when he would rule. He would be the king of High School in his freshman year until he graduated. No, even after he left, he would remain the king. 

His sister, Deandra, followed him out the house. "Slow down!" She called out, already frustrated with her twin. She was wearing a blue and white striped dress over a plain white T-shirt, along with white socks and matching Converse with her brother. Her backpack was also a Jansport, but hers was pink and had a floral design. She had makeup on, bright purple eyeshadow and light red lips. She would, too, look like the standard popular kid- if it weren't for the gigantic back brace she was wearing. 

Dee had quite bad scoliosis, meaning she had to wear this metal brace all day. It wrapped around her chest and back with a leather belt around her waist to keep it steady. The metal on the shoulders connected to a headpiece that was bolted around her forehead. It was tight, restricting her of proper movement from the waist up.

It creaked as she hurried to catch up with her brother. Dee gently punched Dennis' shoulder when she walked next to him. "What the hell?"

Dennis rolled his eyes and looked at his sister with distaste. He rose a brow and smirked. 

Dee's annoyance was already rising. "What's that look for?!"

Dennis let out a dramatic sigh, pretending to be debating whether or not to speak. Dee knew he would. "It's just..." He began, his voice an octave higher than usual. "I don't want to be the guy with the Tin Woman as his sister, y'know?"

Dee punched him again, harder this time. "I don't want me to be wearing this stupid thing either, okay?! But I gotta. You could at least not be a dick about it. It sucks enough as it is."

Dennis looked away. "Whatever."

 They fell into a silence for the rest of their journey, the only sound being their footsteps and Dee's brace. That was, until, they neared the school gates. Teens, big and small, were walking toward the front doors either alone or in huddles. Some older kids pulled up in their cars or mopeds, making the others who rode bikes stare enviously. Dennis breathed in deep, letting a smirk settle on his face as he observed the crowd. They stood to the side for a few minutes, waiting until the sea of students thinned out. Nobody wanted to be early to their first day, that was uncool.

Dee was irritated, all she wanted to do was just get through the day as quickly as possible but she was scared to leave her brother. Not because she was nervous but because she knew he would cause trouble if she wasn't there to stop him. At least, that's what she told herself. 

There were almost no people anymore, just a few stray kids wandering in. Dee checked her watch. 7:56 AM. Angrily, she stomped her foot. "Dennis, we're gonna be late!"

Dennis rolled his eyes yet again. "Shut up, bitch."

Dee crossed her arms over her chest as best as she could while wearing the brace. Dennis was stubborn and didn't listen so there was no point trying to push him. 

The twins heard yelling and lifted their heads to look for the source. A pair of boys, one significantly shorter than the other, came running up to the school gates. Once there, they stopped to catch their breath. They put their hands on their knees and panted heavily. Dennis rose his brow, noticing neither of them had backpacks but were both carrying shopping bags. 

"Dee, get a load of these losers." Dennis laughed, smirk growing when they looked at him.

"You talking to us?" The bigger one spoke up, standing up straighter and glaring at him. Dennis saw how he tried to puff his chest out. 

"Obviously." Dennis said in a mocking tone, letting out a sigh before glancing at his sister. "C'mon. Let's get to class." He started walking away without another word.

"You're a dick!" The tall one called after him, clenching his fists by his side.

The shorter one put a hand on his shoulder. "Mac, let it go, man. We're gonna be late." 

"He called us losers!" Mac turned to his friend. 

Dee took a step toward the pair, feeling sorry for them. They were obviously poor, and although the poor disgusted Dee, she wanted to make people think she was a good person. "I'm sorry about my brother. He's an asshole."

"Yeah, no shit." The shorter one said, looking up at Dee with a frown.

"Deandra!" Dennis yelled, causing Dee to shoot them an apologetic look before hurrying toward the school.

Mac and Charlie followed after them, slowly though so they wouldn't bump into each other.

* * *

[ 8:01 AM ]

Mac sighed as he walked into where he was told his Homeroom was held. He and Charlie had been separated and it sucked. Their schedules mostly lined up but they had a few different classes. Mac looked around the room as he made his way to a free desk, frowning once he saw the guy that had called him a loser earlier sat in the same row as him. Great.

Once the teacher walked in and sat down at her desk, she took out a piece of paper and started reading out names. Mac could feel his anxiety building the closer it got to his name being read out. He almost wanted to get up at leave- luckily, he didn't. "Ro- is this a joke? Which one of you kids wrote on this?" The teacher said, making Mac shrink into his seat as much as possible. When nobody replied, she sighed and read the name out. "Ronald McDonald? Who wrote that?" 

The class erupted into laughter, causing Mac's embarrassment to grow even more. His face turned red and a few people he knew from Middle School looked in his direction. "Here." Mac replied through his teeth, covering his face with his hands.

The teacher looked up from her desk and around the room. "Who said that?" Mac groaned and raised his hand, drawing the attention of everyone in the room to him.

"What a loser." Mac heard someone say.

He turned to see the guy from this morning smirking at him."Yeah, totally. Stupid name for a stupid guy."

The teacher cleared her throat and glared at the class. "Right. Quiet down, kids. Thank you, Ronald. Settle down class!" She had to raise her voice to stop people from laughing and continuing making fun of him.

She continued with the register after that and the class grew quieter. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked to the side to see Dooley- one of his and Charlie's old friends from Middle School. "Hey, you okay?"

Mac shrugged. "Yeah. Thanks." He put on a smile and Dooley nodded, sitting back in his own chair. Mac sighed. He was not looking forward to another five lessons of this.

* * *

[ 9:50 AM ]

Mac stood outside near some picnic benches, leaning against the brick wall with his foot propped up in order to look 'cool'. As soon as he saw Charlie hop down the stairs, he made his way over. 

"Dude, you'll never believe who I've been stuck with for the past two hours!" Mac grabbed Charlie's arm and dragged him away from the crowds, returning to the wall that he was stood by. 

Charlie looked up at him. "What, who?" 

"That bastard that called us losers this morning! His name is Dennis and he's a total ass!" Mac complained, furrowing his brows in annoyance.

"No shit, man! The metal girl was in my Homeroom class, she was annoying as fuck with her squeaky squeaking like 'ee-eerrr-eee-eerrr' every second!" Charlie shook his head and sat on the concrete floor. 

Mac joined him after only a couple seconds worth of hesitation. "I hate that we got split up. Totally not cool. People kept laughing at my name, I coulda used your support." Mac frowned.

Charlie patted Mac's shoulder. "It's okay, bro, we got next period together. If anyone laughs at you then I'll kick their ass!" He took out the snack his mother had made him: a bag of fruit snacks and two cookies. He threw the fruit toward the bin and munched on the cookies. 

Mac smiled at his friend, knowing that Charlie would probably scare the shit out of them with his craziness. "Thanks, buddy." He meant it, he was very thankful for having a friend like Charlie. Mac followed his lead with the snacks, throwing the fruit and stuffing the cookies in his mouth.

When it was almost 10:00, the pair got up and dusted stones and crumbs off of themselves. Mac had no reason to keep his carrier bag now he had eaten his snacks so he left it on the floor. They walked together to their next class, arriving just as the teacher sat down. He gave them a stern look but didn't call them out as they weren't exactly late. They walked inside the room and looked around for two free seats next to each other. As if by some miracle, there were!

Mac and Charlie sat down at a table together and Charlie dumped his bag on the table, taking out his pen and notebook. Mac took a pen out of his pocket and ripped a page out from Charlie's notebook. Charlie ignored this but rose a brow at him. "Dude where'd you get the pen?"

Mac shrugged. "Dooley gave it to me."

"No shit! Dooley's here? Awesome!"

"Quiet!" The teacher hissed and glared at the boys, making them shrink in their seats and snicker to each other.

" _Quiet!_ " Charlie whispered in a mocking tone, making Mac laugh a little louder.

Yeah, class was much funner with Charlie.

* * *

[ 11:30 AM ]

Mac and Charlie had been split up again for their class before lunch. Charlie was sat on a red plastic chair against the side of the room. He had his elbow resting on the windowsill and chin held in his palm. He was staring outside at the class gathered on the football field. They were all wearing their everyday clothes, obviously, who brought their gym kit on the first day of school? 

A kick to his chair snapped Charlie out of his daydream, he craned his neck to the side to see his attacker. Oh shit, it was that tall dude with the cool hair... what was his name? Addison? No, stupid Charlie, that's a girl name. Oh, fuck, he was speaking, saying words at him, shit- listen, Charlie, LISTEN!

"-at the girls, they'll never like you." The tall guy crossed his arms over his chest and smirked down at Charlie.

Dumbly, Charlie tilted his head to the side. "Huh?"

Tall dude rolled his eyes and walked away, clearly disinterested in continuing a conversation with him. A second later, metal woman creaked her way over to him.

"Holy shit, Charlie, was Adriano just talking to you?" Her annoying voice squawked- Charlie had to resist the urge to cover his ears.

"What? Who's Adirnono?" 

Dee rolled her eyes now. "The guy who was just talking to you!" She looked around the room then took a step away and pretended to be looking for something near Charlie's chair. "He's so cute, you can just tell he's, like, totally gonna be one of the cool kids this year." She lowered her voice, almost whispering.

Charlie turned to face Dee, unaware that she was trying to make it seem like she wasn't talking to him. "How can you tell that, it's the first day!" He gestured his arms out wide, drawing the attention of a few students.

"Shh!" Dee glared at him and tried to 'act cool', pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear and nervously smiling while glancing around the room. After a couple of seconds, she leaned in closer. "See how he's talking to the other attractive people? That's cook kid clue one. And he totally made fun of you, cool kid clue two!" 

"He made fun of me?!" Charlie's voice became higher, immediately becoming annoyed. "When?"

Dee angrily pointed at him, the jerking motion making her back brace creak loudly. "Shut up! Just drop it." She huffed and walked to the other side of the room. She tried to be nice and speak to Charlie, he was the loser loner kid after all and she felt bad. But did he  _have_ to make it obvious that they were talking? That just seemed unfair. 

Speaking of unfair, this was supposed to be a drama class but all everyone's been doing is sitting around and talking. This was one of the only classes Dee was actually looking forward to and they're doing nothing! Dee sighed as she sat down on a chair, next to another girl. She was kinda on the chunky side but the only other option was to sit near Charlie. "Are we gonna start acting or what?"

The girl next to her laughed. "I know, right? I mean, what's the point of even staying? We coulda just skipped and had a longer lunch."

Of course she was thinking about food, Dee thought to herself with a smirk. She turned her chair toward the girl and held her hand out. "My names Dee, I'm gonna be a famous actress one day." 

The girl smiled and shook Dee's hand. "I'm Ingrid. I don't know what I'm gonna be yet, maybe a writer." 

"That sucks, you should do something fun." Dee scoffed.

Ingrid shrugged. "Maybe I'll be an actress too."

Dee grinned at that. "Awesome, you won't be as famous as me, though." They both laughed, Dee was laughing because the thought of this chubby girl as an actress was hilarious- everyone knew actresses were skinny, and Ingrid was laughing because she thought Dee was joking around. 

* * *

Across the hall, another drama class was being held. This one was far more livelier, but not in the sense that meant any acting was going on. Instead, all the students were gathered in a circle in the centre of the room, surrounding two kids glaring at each other, yelling insults back and forth. The teacher was at his desk, reading a book and paying no attention to what was going on in his classroom.

Mac was near the outside of the crowd, standing on the tip of his toes as he tried to get a look over the taller kids shoulders. That was one of the downsides of being put in the wrong year- he was shorter than a lot of the teens. In fact, from what he could tell, he was only taller than a handful of kids. Charlie was one of them. 

In an attempt to see the argument going on, Mac put his hand on someone's shoulder, using them as a surface to push himself even further onto his tiptoes. The guy he leant on grunted and roughly jerked away, making Mac fall forward just as the gathering of students parted and whatever commotion had been going on ended. Mac fell onto the ground, almost face-planting the carpeted floor but luckily his had his hands held out in front of him to prevent that. 

The sound of laughter surrounded him for the nth time today. Mac had had enough. Nearly halfway through his school day and already he had been laughed at countless times- be it for his name or because he made a fool of himself somehow. Mac pushed himself up off the ground and clenched his fists by his sides, eyebrows knitting together as he glared at the people around him. "Stop laughing at me you dicks!"

It had the reverse effect. Mac thought he would've scared them into silence but instead, it caused more kids to snicker and mutter things between themselves. 

"What's the matter, Ronald McDonald?" One of them started. "Gonna cry about it?"

More giggles. 

"What?!" Mac spat, looking both offended and angry. "No!" Mac was tough! He wouldn't cry over a bunch of people making fun of him! At least, not in front of everybody.

"Look at him! He totally is!" Someone else joined in on the teasing. Mac didn't realise it was Dennis who had said that.

The laughter turned into mocking 'boohoo's and 'waaaa's and 'i want my mommy's.

"Come on, guys, give the guy a break." A small voice sounded.

All heads turned to its owner, resulting in silence for a second before the laughter became louder. "Look who's standing up for him! The loser with the leg braces!"

"My name's Matthew!" The loser with the leg braces insisted.

The anger Mac felt only grew. He pushed passed some students until he was in front of Matthew. "I don't need you standing up for me, dickweed! You're making things worse!"

The classmates flocked around the two, any noise from them died down so they could focus on the possible fight that was about to happen.

"Oh," Matthew scoffed. "Would you prefer me to verbally abuse you too?"

"Ooh, the cripple's got a mouth!" Someone from the horde called out.

Just as Mac was about to reply, the bell rang, signifying the end of class and the start of lunch. People lost interest easily and started filing out of the classroom, Matthew slipped away while Mac was distracted. Mac stayed where he was, his whole body shaking from a fit of anger that slowly morphed into sadness. He brought a bunched up fist to his face and viciously wiped at his eye, sniffing as he breathed in and out deeply a few times before he made his way out of the classroom. 

He was immediately greeted by Charlie, who had just stepped out of his class. A grin broke out onto his face as he walked over to Mac. "Hey, man." His smile faltered when he saw the state Mac was in- body tense, fists clenched, eyes red. "You look like shit, you okay?"

Mac nodded stiffly. "'m fine. Just got a bunch of assholes in my class."

Charlie nodded in understanding. "Lunch?"

Mac nodded again, easier this time. "Yeah let's go."

* * *

[ 12:00 PM ]

Mac lead Charlie into the cafeteria, heading toward an empty table near the back of the room. "You sit here and save our spots, I'll go get us some lunch."

"No need, bro, my mom packs my lunches." Charlie sat down on the bench and dumped his carrier bag onto the table. Although the bag was clear, Charlie still opened it up to look inside.

"Charlie didn't you lis-"

"Oh shit!" Charlie cut him off, shoving his bag toward Mac. "She totally forgot!"

Mac sighed. "No, she didn't, she told you this morning she wasn't packing lunches for you anymore."

Charlie scrunched his face up. "Nah, I don't remember that."

"You barely remember anything." Mac pointed out.

Charlie scoffed. "Do not!"

Mac was about to reply 'do too' but hesitated. "'Do not'? You.. do not.. not remember anything?"

Charlie flung his arms out. "Yeah!"

Mac shook his head. "Whatever, just stay seated. I'll get us food." He walked away before Charlie could reply, joining the line for food. He picked up two trays and walked along as food was dumped onto both of them. 

"That looks gross." Someone said over his shoulder. 

Mac turned as he rounded the corner, putting two juice boxes on the trays. "Dude!" Mac glared at Charlie who was stood in front of him. "I told you to stay!"

"I'm not a dog, man!" Charlie grabbed one of the trays. 

Mac frowned as he looked at the hall. "Look what you did, now somebody took our seats!" 

"Let's just go eat outside." Charlie suggested, already dumping the packaged food into his carrier bag, holding the bag open to Mac after he was done. 

Mac was silent for a moment as he considered it. "...Fine." He put his food in the bag too, putting the trays down on the nearest table and quickly walking away with Charlie before anyone told him to clean them up.

They ended up sitting under the bleachers to the side of the football field, food spread out on the ground in front of them. They talked back and forth as they ate, telling each other about their classes. 

"I got into a fight," Mac began, picking the blueberries out of a muffin and chucking them on the floor. 

"Physical?" Charlie rose his brows.

"Yeah- well, no. Almost, though. The kid was lucky, if the bell hadn't rung I would've totally kicked his ass." Mac bit into the now blueberry-less muffin.

"I doubt that." Charlie said with a mouthful of pastry, continuing before Mac protested. "I talked to the coolest kid in our year." He smirked smugly.

A look of disbelief crossed Mac's face. "No, you didn't. Nobody can tell who the cool kids are yet." 

"That's what I said too but then Dee said that he was cool because he is really hot and mean or something." 

"Who's Dee?" Mac asked with only the slightest hint of jealousy in his tone.

"The girl from my Homeroom and our English, the one with the metal skeleton." Charlie tossed his rubbish to the side, poking a hole into his juice box with the straw.

"Dennis's sister?" Mac leaned forward, eyes wide. "Why are you talking to her?!" His voice was accusive and slightly higher than normal.

"I don't know, she talked to me!" Charlie mimicked his tone.

"Well, don't speak to her again, her brother is a dick! He's been in every one of my classes today and he always laughs at my name."

Charlie frowned. "What a douche."

"I know." Mac muttered, picking at the grass.

"You done eating?" Charlie asked, speaking once again with a mouth full of food. 

Mac grimaced. "Gross, dude. But yeah, I'm not hungry anymore." 

"Okay. You got any weed?"

Mac lifted his head, eyebrows almost reaching his hairline as he stared at Charlie in shock. "What?"

"You know, weed. Did you get any from your dad's stash? I wanna get high, bro." Charlie whined.

Mac shook his head incredulously. "No, I don't have any weed, Charlie. The cops took it, remember?"

"You should get some more."

"How?"

"Ask your dad where he got his." Charlie shrugged nonchalantly. 

Mac shook his head, deciding not to reply.

They stood up when they heard the bell ring, leaving their trash on the floor and heading back to the school.

* * *

[ 1:00 PM ]

Charlie sat in the middle of the classroom, seated next to Mac, who stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he sketched on the paper pad he had been given. They all had been given one, told that this would be their book for every art class so they weren't allowed to take it home in case it got lost. The teacher was a nice pretty lady, she had smiled at Charlie when he had asked what they should draw. 'Anything you want as long as it relates to yourself somehow. This is so I can get to know my students.' She had said. 

The class seemed to like that, grabbing various coloured pencils and pens from the draws near the sides of the room. For once, the class was mostly silent, focused on their work. Charlie, on the other hand, stared angrily at the blank page in front of him. 

He heard someone clear their throat and he looked up to find the teacher stood in front of his and Mac's desk. Mac paid her no attention, too intent on drawing a set of abs onto an overly muscular man. Charlie wasn't sure how that had anything to do with Mac.

The teacher crouched slightly until she was at eye-level with him. "Charlie, why haven't you drawn anything?" Her voice was soft as she asked, not pushing him for answers like the other teachers did.

Charlie shrugged. "Dunno what to draw." 

The teacher put her hands on her knees, moving until she was by Charlie's side so she could see his book right-way-up. "Well, how about you draw something you like?"

Charlie tilted his head to the side. "Like what?" He asked, as if she would somehow know what  _he_ likes.

"Uh," The teacher was starting to realise that maybe Charlie wasn't the smartest of kids. Her voice became kinder and she spoke slower, really trying to help Charlie understand what to do himself. "Do you play any sports?" Charlie shook his head. "What about... hobbies? Do you have any hobbies?"

"What's that?" 

"A hobby?" She asked. When Charlie nodded, she continued. "A hobby is something you do regularly and you have fun doing it."

An idea struck in his head and he grinned. "Oh! I know what to draw now!"

The teacher smiled and stood up straight, patting Charlie on the shoulder. "Good. Go get some colours."

Charlie scooted his chair back, the screeching sound making the people around him cringe, and waddled over to where the box of pens were. He grabbed an orange, red, pink, green, and brown. Mac already had a black and blue pen at their desk. He returned to his seat and set to work. 

* * *

In another art class, Dee was glaring at her brother who was sat in front of her. She prodded his back with a pen for two minutes straight until Dennis whipped around and snapped at her. "What do you want?!"

"Shhh." Their teacher hushed them, sending them a disapproving look from his desk.

Dee leaned forward as much as she could without her brace stopping her. "Where were you at lunch!? You left me to sit on my own!" She whisper-yelled.

Dennis rolled his eyes. "I didn't want to be the laughing stock of 9th grade because I was sat next to the cyborg girl who stuffed her face like a pig! Honestly, Dee, you can be so stupid!" He laughed, putting his point across as if it were obvious.

"That's not fair. Dad said you had to hang out with me." 

"Do you see dad anywhere?" Dennis rose a brow.

Dee narrowed her eyes further. "You're a dick."

"And you're a bitch, nothing new there." He smirked smugly.

"Shhh!" The teacher hushed them again, more insistently. "Face the front!" 

"Gladly." Dennis muttered as he turned around in his seat.

* * *

As art class neared its end, the teacher came back to Mac and Charlie's desk, smile on her face once again as she looked at the boys. "Why don't you two show me what you've drawn?" She noticed that Charlie's forearms and face somehow had different coloured pen lines across them. Mac was clean.

Mac puffed his chest out proudly, lifting his book and showing both the teacher and Charlie what he had spent the entire lesson perfecting. On the page were three men, each of them shirtless with an eight-pack on their chest. Their arms and legs were almost as big as their heads. The teacher rose her brows, blinking at the artwork. "Oh my,"

"Awesome, isn't it?" Mac asked, grinning wide.

"It... certainly is." She replied, unsure of what else to say.

Charlie scoffed beside him. "Dude how does that have anything to do with you?"

Mac furrowed his brows. "Isn't it obvious?" He was met with silence. "It's me and my dad!" He pointed to two of the guys.

"You don't look like that." Charlie pointed out. 

Mac shook his head with a sigh. "No, you don't get it. It isn't us now, it's the future! When he gets out of prison and we go to the gym and get buff together." He explained.

"Then who is the third guy?" The teacher asked in bewilderment.

"A beefcake." He replied simply.

"A... beefcake?" She repeated, even more perplexed. She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Uh.. very good, Ronald-"

"It's Mac." He but in. "Nobody calls me Ronald."

"Nobody calls you Mac." Charlie countered.

"Yeah, they do! Tons of people do!" Mac rose his voice.

"Boys!" The teacher held her hands out. "Let's just take a look at Charlie's drawing, yes?"

Mac muttered something under his breath as they turned to look at Charlie's sketchbook. It looked like something a 3-year-old had drawn. There were two stick figures, one with brown eyes and one with green eyes, stood at one end of the page with grey dots in their hands. On the other side of the page were three stick figure cats, each of them with a hefty amount of grey dots and red patches covering them.

The teacher gulped. "How... lovely." She let out a nervous chuckle, her smile becoming forced. "Can you tell me what's going on in this, Charlie?"

"It's me and Mac throwing rocks at cats." Charlie said with his own smile. 

Mac perked up, leaning into Charlie as he got a better look at the drawing. "Oh yeah! That's so cool, bro, you drew me great!" He pointed at stick figure Mac. "But I'm not that thin."

"Yeah you are, you're skinnier than me." 

"No, I have muscles." Mac argued.

The teacher brought a hand to her head, pinching the bridge of her nose as she willed her oncoming headache away. "Okay, boys, I think that's enough for today. How about you pack up your stuff and get ready for your next lesson."

* * *

 [ 3:00 PM ]

Not much happened during last period. Mac had yet another class where people laughed at his name and he spent the entire hour glaring at his desk, trying his best to ignore their taunts and not get into another fight- or almost fight. Charlie had a good time in his class, though, they had just sat in chairs and listened to music the entire time.

When the pair regrouped once the school bell rang, they gave each other a high five. "First day over." Charlie grinned.

"Thank God!" Mac looked up and blew a kiss.

Charlie's eyes widened and he followed Mac's eyes, staring at the ceiling in confusion. "Dude...?" 

Mac turned his head to him. "Huh, what?"

"Why are you blowing a kiss to the ceiling?"

Mac looked at Charlie like he was stupid. "What?"

"I just saw you! You kissed the ceiling!" 

Mac rolled his eyes. "I wasn't kissing the ceiling, I was kissing God." He explained as they walked outside and down the steps. 

"Kissing God?" Mac nodded. "Isn't that kinda gay?"

Mac stopped walking, causing the people behind him to bump into him and curse. He turned to face Charlie, who stood still when he saw Mac did. "Don't joke about that sort of stuff, Charlie."

Charlie tilted his head. "I wasn't-"

"I'm serious, bro!" Mac grabbed his arm and pulled them away from the walkway. "Blowing a kiss to God isn't gay."

"But God's a dude..." Charlie trailed off.

"God isn't a dude." Mac crossed his arms. "God is a hot chick who loves me, so I kissed her and that makes me not gay." 

Charlie scrunched his face up in confusion. "That's bullshit, bro, I remember going to church with my mom and they always said 'He'."

Mac glared at him. "You only go to church on Christmas, I know way more about God and The Bible than you do!" He argued.

Charlie rolled his eyes and carried on walking. "Whatever."

Mac followed after him. "'Whatever'? What do you mean 'whatever'?! Was I right or what?" 

Charlie shrugged. "Don't know, don't care, bro." They turned the corner. 

Mac let out a frustrated sigh. "You're unbelievable." 

Charlie scoffed. "Oh, I'M unbelievable!?" 

"That's what I just said!" 

"OH I'M SO SORRY MR 'I'M GAY FOR GOD'!" Charlie's voice was impossibly high now. "I'M SOO SORRY THAT I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THAT CHRISTOPHER-ANITY BULLCRAP!" 

Mac squinted. "Did you just say 'Christopher-anity'? Holy fuck you're dumb."

Charlie shook his head. "No, you're dumb." 

"I'm not the one who said Christopher-anity, dude!"

"WHATEVER! Jesus, Mac, you're so annoying." They stopped arguing after that, walking in silence for a few minutes until they reached the street Charlie lived on. Charlie climbed the steps to his house, turning around to face Mac when he reached the door. "You coming in?"

Mac hesitated at the bottom of the steps, scuffing his shoe on the sidewalk. "I'm gonna go see if my mom's unlocked the door."

Charlie nodded. "You wanna get your clothes?" 

Mac shook his head. "Nah, keep them there. Your mom can wash them and I'll wear 'em next time I stay over."

"Okay." Charlie opened his front door.

"Wait!" Mac got onto the first step. "Did you mean it when you said I was annoying?" He asked, his voice self-conscious. 

Charlie smiled at him. "Yeah, dude. But it's okay, I like you annoying." 

Mac grinned and nodded. "Okay." He hopped off the step and started walking away. 

"DON'T FORGET, YOU OWE BE A BAG OF CHIPS!" Charlie called out after him, sticking his tongue out when he saw Mac flip him off. He turned and walked inside his house, dropping his carrier bag by the door.

Mac jogged the rest of the way home, not living that far from the Kelly's. He was almost reluctant as he walked up to his door, taking a deep breath before trying the door. He let the breath out when it opened, a smile growing on his face as he excitedly went inside. "Hey, mom!" He greeted her cheerily, seeing her sitting on the couch like she has been a lot recently. 

She simply grunted in reply, another thing that had been becoming more and more common. 

"Did you go see dad today?" He asked as he made his way to the kitchen. "How long is he gonna be inside? Another month?" He opened a few cupboards, looking for something to snack on. When she didn't answer his questions, he turned to her. "Mom? Did you visit dad?"

"Fuck!" She cursed, angrily grabbing at the TV remote and turning the volume up. 

"...Philadelphia resident, Luther McDonald, was arrested late last night for a number of drug-related charges..."

Mac froze as he heard the presenter speaking on the News, idly moving into the living room, staring at his dad's picture on the screen.

"...these new crimes along with his many previous convictions means he could be facing at least ten years behind bars, maybe more..."

Mac lurched forward and grabbed the remote from his mother's hand, ignoring her protests as he turned the TV off quickly. 

"'the hell d'ya think you're doin''?!" She yelled, ripping the remote away from him.

Mac didn't reply. He turned and ran up the stairs to his room, furiously wiping at his eyes as hot tears fell down his cheeks. He slammed the door and threw himself onto his bed, sobbing into the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments! 
> 
> This first chapter took almost a month to write and I'm so glad I've finally finished it and I can upload it.  
> If you have anything you'd want to see in this fic, just drop it in the comments. There will be some Mac/Charlie and Mac/Dennis in the future, though I am unsure if the Mac/Dennis will be one-sided or not.


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